1. Field of the Invention
The invention to devices for holding tools and kitchen utensils.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Utensil holders of the prior art have employed blocks of wood or plastic which contain slots for knife blades which are broadened to accomodate the knife handles. Each slot must be of the proper length and width to accomodate a given sized knife. Consequently slots of various lengths and handle widths must be provided, thus limiting the variety of knives that may be stored. Additionally, these lack versatility because they hold knives only and cannot be employed to store other utensils such as spatulas, spoons, and forks. Further the blades are hidden and the one wanted is selected by associating it with the appearance of the handle. This generally means a guess by the selector and may lead to the selection of a blade other than the one desired and another guess must then be made.
Other types of utensil holders provide depressions which follow the contours of the broad dimensions of the utensils to be stored. To insure retention of the utensils, when the holder is mounted in a vertical position, a retaining plate must be positioned over a portion of the holder. This retaining plate covers a major portion of the stored utensils, thus making it difficult to determine which blade is being selected when a handle is chosen.
Still another type of utensil holder of the prior art comprises a magnetic bar which holds the utensils by magnetic attraction. The attraction for each utensil is proportional to its width and may not be sufficient to hold relatively heavy utensils such as cleavers. Additionally, the magnetic bar does not provide definite positions and utensils may be scattered on the bar in a random fashion. This random positioning creates a situation by which the removal of one utensil may cause another to be unintentionally dislodged.
Another type of magnetic holder of the prior art comprises horseshoe magnetics or a multiplicity of rigid bar magnets arranged parallel to each other with alternate bar magnets being oppositely poled. Devices of this type require that the metallic article being held be positioned such that it crosses at least the oppositely poled bar magnetics. Utensils are also positioned on this device in a random manner and the removal of one may cause other utensils to be unintentionally dislodged.
Further, the section of an article held by rigid bar magnets which is in contact therewith, tend to abruptly separate therefrom where the handle or other exposed sections are accidently struck, thereby causing the article to drop from the rigid bar magnet holder. Another deficiency of a rigid bar magnet holder is that a strong magnetic field is required, usually restricted to a small area, to provide a holder capable of retaining tool and utensils thereon. When a tool or utensil is brought near the holder the strong magnetic field snaps the utensil forcibly to the hard magnet, possibly causing damage to the utensil or tool, such as by nicking a finely honed knife edge. This strong magnetic field also causes the tool or utensil to be tightly held, requiring an unduly strong mechanical force to remove articles from the holder.
What is needed is a utensil holder which can retain the heavier utensils and also provide open individual positions in which utensils may be readily mounted in an orderly fashion, without requiring strong concentrations of magnetic force which may damage the articles and make their removal difficult.